Lucy is single, 41 and looking for a long-term relationship. Through apps like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, she’s now been on over 500 dates.

After five years of swiping through potential dates like it’s a never-ending card game, Lucy wants to work out whether she’s wasting her time using apps which don’t seem to be invested in helping her find love. Is she right about this? Should she rid of them and concentrate on living her best single life instead?

To work this out, Lucy discovers how the algorithms work and whether they are actually failing her; why people behave badly on the apps and how to remain optimistic.

Lucy talks to: Nichi Hodgson, author of The Curious History of Dating, from Jane Austen to Tinder; Luke Stark, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information & Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario; Sacha McElligott, President of Replay app and Dr Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and author of Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Marriage, Mating and Why We Stray.

Producer: Eliza Lomas Show less